Joshua Dürksen turned the F2 Sprint of the 2025 Qatar GP into a statement drive under the Lusail lights. Starting from the front row, he launched perfectly and grabbed the lead into Turn 1. The opening phase ran under his control until Richard Verschoor fought back and slipped past on Lap 4. Strong pace kept Dürksen in the hunt as chaos broke out behind, with gravel moments and tight midfield battles shaping the race. Both Safety Car restarts were handled cleanly, allowing him to stay clear of the late incidents that shook up the order. A composed run to the flag secured second place, a hard-earned podium and a timely boost at this decisive stage of the season, ahead of a move to Invicta Racing in 2026.
Dürksen proud of maximised F2 Qatar Sprint despite missing out on victory
After climbing out of the car, Dürksen admitted he had wanted more coming out of the F2 Sprint Race at the Qatar GP. Victory stayed the target, but second still felt like a job well done. He felt he had squeezed everything out of the package and pointed to Verschoor’s pace as the decisive factor. The Paraguayan simply had a little more in hand, especially at the restart, yet Dürksen took pride in how closely he stayed attached. In his view, there was little more available and the result reflected a night of maximised potential rather than missed opportunity.
“Well, despite wanting the P1, I think I’m still happy with the P2. I think we maximised the performance we had. As I said before, Richard [Verschoor] was a bit too quick for me today.”
“He did a very good job also with the restart. I think I also did a good job to stay quite close to him, so I’m really happy because I think there was not a lot more to extract and we maximised what we could.”
A fourth podium in five races
Dürksen’s recent form told the same story; second place at the F2 Sprint Race of the Qatar GP marked a fourth podium in five races and confirmed a late-season surge for the Paraguayan. Dürksen appreciated the reminder of that streak and acknowledged the momentum behind it. The pattern didn’t catch him off guard, though. The MP car seemed to come alive on the late-year circuits, just as it had the season before, and the team arrived in Lusail quietly confident of strong points and podium chances. That confidence now carried forward. With another trophy in hand, Dürksen set his sights on the F2 Feature Race of the Qatar GP and the final round, eager to keep this run going to the very end.
“That kind of stat I like. Yeah, no, that’s really nice. That’s true though. I didn’t think about that, but yeah. No, I think our car just somehow suits better these tracks on the last rounds of the year. It was the same tendency last year, so we were quite confident that we would be able to be for sure in the points podiums as well. And yeah, that’s a really nice stat and I hope we can continue like this for tomorrow and also for next week.”
Recent results signal a long-awaited turning point
The strong run also carried a hint of frustration. Dürksen knew that consistency remained the missing piece. Mid-season, he and MP had hit struggles and chased solutions that did not always pay off. The team tried different directions, and that approach sometimes led to mistakes and big setbacks, a risk he accepted as part of the game. What mattered to the Paraguayan was that the work now showed on the scoreboard, with four podiums in the last five starts. The form gave him confidence that the tide had turned and that this late surge could finally bring the stable run they had aimed for all year.
“Yeah, for sure. Key is also consistency, which we were lacking a bit in the middle of the season. That was never the plan, we always wanted to be consistent in the points, but we had some struggles. We had some issues which we had to figure out. We had to look for the solution and just try stuff.”
“And by trying stuff, this means that you can make an error, you can make a big hit. So it’s part of the game, but for sure that’s something we still want to work. And I think it’s going better now that I’m four times consistently in the podium in the last five races. And yeah, I just hope this just continues like this.”
Dürksen bets on Qatar chaos to turn P9 start into another key result
Looking ahead, Dürksen treated the F2 Sprint at the Qatar GP as a springboard rather than a peak. He expected Safety Cars to shape the Feature Race and believed that chaos could open doors from ninth on the grid. Points felt like a firm target, and he carried quiet confidence about securing them. A podium looked like a taller order, with plenty of quick cars ahead, but he refused to rule it out, claiming that “in F2 anything can happen.” The plan stayed simple: attack again on Sunday, maximise every chance, and see just how far this late-season charge from the Paraguayan could run.
“Let’s see. Anything is possible also, especially with the safety cars. I think this will really make the race very interesting, but I’m very confident that for sure we will finish in the points. A podium from P9 is going to be a bit difficult. I’m quite sure the other guys will also be very fast, but I never discard that option because I know that in F2 anything can happen. So for sure we’re going to look to give our best again tomorrow.”
Dürksen unconcerned by tyre talk
When talk turned to tyre concerns, Dürksen stayed relaxed. He said he had no issues with tyres all weekend and saw nothing unusual on his sets. Like Verschoor, he pointed out that Formula 1 could attack the kerbs more aggressively, while F2 had to stay a bit more conservative. Within those limits, everything felt under control to him, and he saw no reason to worry heading into the Feature Race.
“I didn’t also realise anything, I never had an issue with the tyres throughout the whole weekend. As Richard [Verschoor] said, F1 they can take a bit more of kerb than us, so we are a bit limited on that but I never felt any issue, so for me it was all fine with that.”
The challenge of timing runs into Turn 1
Asked about racing on a bike-born layout, Dürksen highlighted the challenge of dirty air at high speed. The downforce and drag of an F2 car made it difficult to follow closely, especially through the fast sweeps that define Lusail. He still called the circuit great fun to drive, particularly in Qualifying and when running in clean air. The key, in his view, lay in tyre management and timing. Drivers had to choose carefully when to push in the final sector to close up and earn a shot into Turn 1. That demanded precision, smart decision-making and full commitment once they went for a move—an added layer of difficulty that, for the Paraguayan, made the track “really nice” and the racing deeply rewarding.
“Yeah, the same as Richard [Verschoor]. I mean, it’s common sense that on the high speeds, it’s always very difficult to follow the other guys because of the downforce these cars produce, which means also drag, what they produce. It’s a very, very nice track to drive. Qualifying is always very, very fun. Same as Richard [Verschoor] said, when you’re driving alone in the race, it’s still very fun.”
“But yeah, you have to be very clever with how you manage your tyres. You have to be clever as well to decide when you’re going to really use your tyres in that last sector to catch up and then maybe have an opportunity in T1. So you have to be really smart, really precise. And when you’re going to take a decision, you have to go for it 100%. I think that difficulty is really nice in this track. And it’s just really fun.”
Dürksen attributes early pace to aero advantage up front
Dürksen downplayed any idea that he had been overdriving in the early laps and pointed to the simple advantage of clean air. Running at the front let him use the car’s downforce properly without the turbulence that punishes anyone stuck in traffic. Once a driver dropped into dirty air, the problems built on each other. Grip faded in the fast corners, which caused more sliding and higher tyre temperatures, and the loss of performance only grew from there. As he explained in his own words, “you lose so much downforce which means you slide more the tyres you will heat them more you actually have even less downforce so it is just like a cycle you know.”
“No, I think it’s the fact that we are just running in clean air, you know. These cars produce a lot of downforce, also a lot of dirty air, so for sure it’s very easy to be a lot slower in the corners and struggling because you’re thinking, okay, you are on the limit of the car, but it’s actually because of the dirty air you lose so much downforce, which means you slide more the tyres, you will heat them more, you actually have even less downforce, so it’s just like a cycle, you know.”
In Qatar, leading in clean air is everything
From Dürksen’s point of view, the race opened up once he reached the front. With no traffic ahead, he kept his tyres under control and drove in a smoother rhythm, which helped him look after the car across the stint. Clean air gave him confidence on turn-in and allowed him to use the downforce of the car the way it was designed. He contrasted that with life deeper in the pack, where turbulent air robbed rivals of grip and made their cars slide more. In those conditions, even quick drivers struggled to move forward and often could not show how fast they really were. That difference between leading and chasing shaped much of his Sprint and underlined how important track position remained at Lusail.
“And when you’re in front, you have all the clean air you can have, you can manage your tyres, you can drive cleaner, you can drive, you can manage a bit better as well. So I think it’s just that fact, you know because it has happened many times where drivers which were quick in the front were maybe not as quick on the back because of the pure defect of the dirty air, which don’t allow them to overtake and show their true potential, so I think it’s mainly because of this.”
